Kuiper Belt

Illustration of the Kuiper belt's location

A ring consisting of many thousands of minor planets which lies beyond the orbit of Neptune and which was named after the Dutch-American astronomer Gerard Kuiper (1905-1973). Kuiper conjectured about its existence in the 1940s. Astronomers continue to find new heavenly bodies in the Kuiper Belt since its discovery in 1992. They can still only speculate about many of its qualities because direct observation of the individual bodies remains extremely difficult. The Kuiper Belt has been compared to the belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter but it is much larger and its objects are probably composed primarily of frozen ice of different types, rather than rock or metal.

Pluto is the most familiar member of the Kuiper Belt, and the second largest known after the dwarf planet Eris.

Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs)

Asteroid (Number, Name)	Type	Date of discovery, Photographic proof (UT), Place	Diameter^[1] + Moon(s)	Perihelion q Aphelion Q^[2]	Orbital Period^[3]^[2]	Degree of Perihelion (ca.)^[2]
134340 Pluto	Plutoid	18.2.1930 23:00 Flagstaff (AZ)	2.370 km + 1.208 km + ca. 45 km + ca. 35 km + ca. 30 km + ca. 20 km	q Sep 1989 29.658 AU	247.68 a	15°
58534 Logos	Cubewano	4.2.1997 13:08:16 Mauna Kea (HI)	82 + 67 km	q Oct 1964 39.706 AU Q Dec 2115 50.355 AU	302.18 a	18°
19521 Chaos	Cubewano	19.11.1998 9:52:09 Kitt Peak, Tucson (AZ)	600 km	Q Sep 1878 50.582 AU q Nov 2033 41.059 AU	310.17 a	15°
38083 Rhadamanthus	Plutino (?)	17.4.1999 3:19:53 Kitt Peak, Tucson (AZ)	201 km	q May 1948 32.885 AU Q Jul 2069 44.843 AU	242.28 a	28°
53311 Deucalion	Cubewano	18.4.1999 4:55:55 Kitt Peak, Tucson (AZ)	211 km	Q Mar 1921 46.776 AU q Mar 2067 41.212 AU	291.81 a	25°
66652 Borasisi	Cubewano	18.09.1999 7:15:46 Mauna Kea (HI)	165 km	q Jan 1972 40.037 AU Q Jun 2118 48.123 AU	292.67 a	16°
38628 Huya	Plutino	10.3.2000 7:24:56 Mérida, Venezuela	389 + 202 km	q Mar 2015 28.522 AU Q Oct 1891 50.225 AU	247.07 a	25°
20000 Varuna	Cubewano	28.11.2000 9:51:38 Kitt Peak, Tucson (AZ)	785 km	q Nov 1930 40.494 AU Q Aug 2071 45.313 AU	281.03 a	5°
28978 Ixion	Plutino	22.05.2001 5:21:24 Cerro Tololo, Chile	727 km	Q Jul 1946 49.308 AU q Nov 2070 29.848 AU	248.99 a	15°
88611 Teharonhiawako	Cubewano	20.08.2001 3:01:28 Cerro Tololo, Chile	167 + 120 km	q Jun 1892 43.299 AU Q Sep 2039 45.266 AU	294.68 a	10°
148780 Altjira	Cubewano	20.10.2001 9:23:29 Kitt Peak, Tucson (AZ)	212 km	q May 1918 41.573 AU Q Feb 2066 47.145 AU	295.45 a	4°
50000 Quaoar	Cubewano	4.6.2002 5:41:40 Palomar Mountain (CA)	1170 km	Q Sep 2070 45,169 AU q Mar 1927 42,008 AU	285.97 a	11°
84522 2002 TC302	TNO/ SDO	9.10.2002 5:09:58 Palomar Mountain (CA)	1.150 km	Q Oct 1851 71.870 AU q Oct 2058 39.199 AU	413.86 a	16°
65489 Ceto	SDO	22.3.2003 6:39:23 Palomar Mountain (CA)	165 km	q Jul 1989 17.795 AU Q 181.556 AU	995,16 a	13°
136199 Eris	Plutoid/ SDO	21.10.2003 6:25:09 Palomar Mountain (CA)	2.326 km	q Jan 1698 38.540 AU Q Oct 1978 97.557 AU	556,97 a	14°
90377 Sedna	TNO	14.11.2003 6:32:57 Palomar Mountain (CA)	995 km	q Aug 2075 76.361 AU Q 960.782 AU	11.222 a	7°
90482 Orcus	Plutino	17.2.2004 5:42:49 Palomar Mountain (CA)	814 + 363 km	q Apr 1897 30,639 AU Q Nov 2019 48,046 AU	246,8 a	11°
120347 Salacia	Cubewano	22.9.2004 3:30:48 Palomar Mountain (CA)	896 + 308 km^[4]	Q 46,5 AU q 37.4 AU	271,9 a
136108 Haumea	Plutoid	28.12.2004 0:40:40 Observatorio de Sierra Nevada (SPA)	1.150 x 2.200 km + 310 km + 160 km	Q Feb 1991 51.524 AU q Oct 2133 35.159 AU	285,3 a	29°
136472 Makemake	Plutoid	31.3.2005 6:13:30 Palomar Mountain (CA)	1.473 km	q Nov 1879 38,543 AU Q Jun 2034 52,778 AU	308,54 a	17°
225088 2007 OR10	SDO	17.7.2007 9:27:35 Palomar Mountain (CA)	1.535^[5]	q Aug 1856 33.675 AU Q Sep 2132 100.910 AU	552.52 a	29° (?)